Analysis of terrain interaction with a wheel-track robot

Abstract

According to the terrain features of irregular environment, a novel transformable wheel-track robot is designed. The robot can change the locomotion mode between track mode and wheel mode according to the irregular environment by transforming the track configuration. In this paper, two key mechanical points of the robot - retractable track and double four-bar linkage mechanism are emphasized. Then, the slope-climbing ability is compared between in the wheel mode and in the track mode. With the analysis of the track-terrain interaction, a wheel-track robot is developed. The track in contact with the terrain can be divided into three parts, namely, the front road wheel, the rear road wheel and the middle track. Using this model, we can analysis the robot locomotion performance, design motion system of the mobile robot.